- Stage 3 continues this week until at least Thursday at 05:00.
- At the weekend there were a number of breakdowns contributing to an already constrained grid.
- Eskom will provide further updates later in the week.
As the longest streak of loadshedding continues, Eskom on Sunday announced that Stage 3 will continue until 05:00 on Thursday this week.
The persistence of loadshedding is required due to – you guessed it – a shortage of generating capacity brought about by a high level of breakdowns.
“Following the shutdown of Camden Power Station due to the de-mineralised water contamination last week, the first of seven generating units returned to service on Saturday evening. The remaining units are anticipated to return to service over the next eight days, while one will remain on planned maintenance. A generating unit each at Kusile and Majuba power stations were returned to service,” Eskom wrote in a power alert.
In addition to the failings at Camden Power Station, a generating unit each at the following power stations were taken offline for repairs:
- Duvha Power Station,
- Kendal Power Station,
- Komati Power Station,
- Kusile Power Station,
- Matimba Power Station,
- Lethabo Power Station,
- Tutuka Power Station.
In addition two generating units at Kendal Power Station and one additional unit at Kendal Power Station were taken offline for repairs.
To offset this grim state of affairs, Eskom also said that generating unit at Kusile Power Station and Majuba Power Station were returned to service.
As of Sunday afternoon, 6 893MW of capacity was offline due to planned maintenance while 16 168MW was offline due to breakdowns. The utility has said it will publish further updates on Wednesday.
With no end to loadshedding in sight and the situation seemingly only getting worse, we urge you to download EskomSePush for Android and iOS devices to plan your week ahead accordingly.
[Image – Marcel Eberle Unsplash]
